Hit-and-run drink driver escapes jail sentence

DRINK driver Jonathan Lucas ran off after hitting a pedestrian and then a wall in a car taken without consent, Hastings magistrates were told.

Lucas, 19, of Blackmill Close, Bexhill, appeared for sentence after admitting charges of aggravated vehicle taking where an accident caused injury, driving with excess alcohol, failing to stop and give details after an accident and driving without insurance at a court three months ago.

Peter Bolwell, prosecuting, told the court a Fiat Panda car was taken from outside the owner's house at Little Common on the evening of April 20 and was driven to Hastings.

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The car was involved in an accident in Devonshire Road where a pedestrian was hit as he came out of the Priory pub. The car then struck a wall and Lucas abandoned it and ran off.

Police later arrested Lucas at Bexhill where a breath test showed he was almost twice over the legal alcohol limit for driving.

Mr Bolwell told the court: "Police say that the injuries to the pedestrian were very minor and that they have not been able to make contact with him since then."

Mark Glendenning, defending, said Lucas was a man easily led and susceptible to peer pressure. But he had now broken free of the group leading him into trouble.

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Returning to live with his mother had a stabilising influence on him.

Lucas had alcohol problems, said Mr Glendenning, but would not get support if he was sent to prison.

Magistrates said Lucas had narrowly escaped a prison sentence. They told him he would have been sent to prison for four months if he had not pleaded guilty.

They imposed the maximum total of 240 hours of community punishment in a year.

Lucas was also banned from driving for two years starting from April 25.

He was told he could have the ban cut by a quarter if he successfully completes a driver rehabilitation course.

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